Rice junior defensive tackle Christian Covington has been named by Phil Steele as a member of his 2014 Preseason All-American team. The junior from Vancouver, British Columbia was named to the third team, which was released on Friday.

Covington was a first-team All C-USA pick by league coaches as a sophomore, leading the team with a career-high 14 tackles for loss while finishing with a career-best 59 tackles. He played the last five games of the year playing with a heavy cast on his right hand due to thumb injury, but still recorded 4.5 of his tackles for loss, including a pair in the Liberty Bowl. He posted his top two totals for unassisted tackles after his injury (6 each vs. UAB and Mississippi State). He was also directly responsible for the Owls first two defensive touchdowns in 2013, partially deflecting pass that Michael Kutzler ran back for a TD vs. Kansas and blocking a field goal vs. Houston that Alex Lyons returned for a score. He was also named to Dave Campbell's Texas Football's All-Texas postseason team.

Rice will open training camp for the 2014 season on August 4 and open the 2014 season on August 30 at Notre Dame.